Blood In The Tracks: The 2007 Summer Flow Tour

Jun 01 2007 / San Diego, CA

PHOTO GALLERY    Andy Finch gets checked out after his wild ride.  Check out photos from the 2007 Summer Flow Tour  View Gallery>

One of the newcomers -- and next addicts -- was Ross Rebagliati, the 1998 Olympic Gold Medal winner in Downhill Snowboarding. Ross is no stranger to water that isn't frozen, and he took his first tentative steps on what is likely to be a lifetime addiction -- as it has become for the likes of Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater, Chris Miller and some of the world’s best boarders:

"The FlowRider® was bigger in person than it looks like on TV and the water has real power to it at 38 mph. I was definitely respectful of it the minute I saw it. I knew it wasn't going to be a cake walk and it wasn't," Rebagliati said.  "Crashing was like stepping out of a vehicle at 38 mph and cartwheeling down the road. I know enough about trying new sports (like kiteboarding) to know that it is never as easy as someone may make it look."

"I have every intention of getting fully dialed on the FlowRider®. Surfing is one of my oldest passions and the FlowRider® is the closest I have ever been and probably will ever be to a standup barrel opportunity. I am looking forward to having my own FlowRider® here at Kelowna Mountain.”

Rebagliati wasn’t the only snowboarder to crash and burn that day, as Andy Finch also got Brutalized by the Bruticus Maximus and wound up grinning and bleeding as hands came in to patch the hole in his head. Finch jumped on a plane back to Reno soon after, but he wasn’t daunted: “I’ll be back,” Finch said, wincing a little.

There was competition in nine different bodyboard and standup divisions. John DeTemple (pictured at left with other judges) has judged a number of Flowboarding events and explained the new format.
 
"The judging was on 4 x :45 second runs, best 3 waves count. Judging was altered for stand up which consisted of five categories: Barrel riding, carving, switch, airs and overall style," DeTemple said.  "It was a very different format and took the judges a little while to tally all the different scoring sections but by the end we were back up to speed.”

If you have never witnessed a Flowboard event up close and personal, the things these guys are pulling off standing and prone is getting a little hard to believe. Standouts for the day (and night) included bodyboarder Tyler Danek from Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, whose tricks were fast as lightning and makes you wonder what kind of damage this guy could do at Pipeline or Teahupoo.

In the standup division, 21 year-old Jamie Lovett (pictured at right) from Cardiff by the Sea threw down a gauntlet to all the great flowboarders who have come before, as he pulled off double backflips.

"It was great,” said DeTemple. “The last major event I judged was in Texas at the Schlitterbahn for the national championships in 2005. The performance level is not even comparable between then and now. Back then it was more bodyboarding and less stand ups. The amount of trust and commitment these guys put into their skills and equipment is scary.”

This was the first event of a 23-stop tour and the level is already sky high.   At the end of the year, the top flowboarder and bodyboarder will win a cruise on the Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas for a 7-night cruise and will be crowned Flow Royalty.

For information on Wave House and the Flow Tour event information please check out www.wavetheplanet.com.